And, just last week, a report by an independent consultant was made public that said the Iditarod board had so strained its relationships with mushers and sponsors it threatened the very survival of the historic race.

Baker is the brother of musher John Baker, of Kotzebue, who won the 2011 Iditarod. The other five board members are either family of Iditarod mushers or mushers themselves, both currently racing and retired.

Last week, Andy Baker said in an email that the Iditarod board would focus on identifying and dealing with conflicts of interest after the 2018 race.

2011 Iditarod champion John Baker speaks to the Iditarod Trail Committee board during a meeting where the board adopted new rules allowing two-way communication, at the Lakefront hotel in Anchorage in 2016. (Loren Holmes / Alaska Dispatch News)

The Iditarod Official Finishers Club included its call for Baker's resignation in a letter that was dated Tuesday and obtained by the Anchorage Daily News.

Musher Sarah Stokey, club secretary, confirmed in a text message the letter was sent to the board.

She did not respond to further questions, including what specific actions Baker had taken, or not taken, that prompted the call for resignation. Wade Marrs, club president and musher representative on the Iditarod board, also did not respond to a message Thursday afternoon requesting information on Baker's actions.

A brief email from the Iditarod's public relations firm Thursday said the Iditarod board would discuss the club's letter at its previously scheduled Friday meeting in Anchorage.

In its letter, the mushing club said it wants Baker to step down by next Thursday and "the remaining members with a conflict of interest" to resign by June.

The letter is signed by the club, not individual mushers. The club is made up of mushers who finished the Iditarod. To become a voting member, they must pay an annual $15 fee, according to the club's website.

At a meeting of the Iditarod Official Finishers Club in November, the attendees passed a vote of no confidence in Baker. The vote was 36-0 with one person abstaining, according to a copy of the meeting minutes. The club's letter said it decided to not take further action until the consultant's report was released.

The club said mushers do not want to race under the current board of directors and Baker's resignation "would be the first of many necessary steps to repair the broken trust that has developed."

"The 68 mushers who have tirelessly worked to train their dog teams, day in and day out, deserve better than to race under a president who has jeopardized the integrity of our entire livelihood through his poor leadership," the letter said.